Rhode Island Politics
Governor Carcieri (via ProJo) I am fully aware that I am placing the burden of resolving our state’s financial future on the shoulders of our employees….But my responsibility is to the average Rhode Island taxpaying families who put me here. I must act on behalf of all our citizens, and must fix this now for…
Rhode Island has an economically unsustainable infrastucture problem, a problem only magnified by a lack of will to face and fix the problem. In discussing its troubled status, Ed Achorn writes about how There’s no sense in driving out R.I.’s taxpayers and offers these concluding words: There is one thing everyone should remember: Whatever opinions…
Governor Carcieri being interviewed by Dan Yorke (WPRO 630 AM)… The Governor says that the legislature’s plan to use tobacco money to plug the deficit is bad for 2 reasons…Using a one-time windfall for operating expenses leaves you with the same problem again next year.The original plan for the tobacco funds (highway, I think) brings…
Here’s the full 7to7 blog post Andrew mentions, below: Governor Carcieri this afternoon laid out a plan to “solve the state’s budget crisis” that includes seeking legislation to freeze all state wages at current levels and cutting 1,000 state employees. Carcieri said the employee reductions would save taxpayers $26 million in fiscal 2008 and another…
WHJJ’s (920 AM) Helen Glover is reporting that Governor Donald Carcieri has proposed closing the state budget deficit by cutting 1,000 state jobs. Communications Director Steve Kass is on with Glover now. Reductions will be achieved through a combination of attrition, retirements, and privatization. Kass just mentioned that state employees are expensive because of the…
Brian C. Jones over at the Phoenix (via N4N) has a story on Governor Carcieri, the focus of which is a question: is the Guv already a lame duck? At the heart of the problem is the budget and the perception that Governor Carcieri doesn’t play well with others and somehow it’s all the Carcieri’s…
Friday is the day the legislature’s version of the state budget will be unveiled, according to Steve Peoples of the
All in all, just another (temporary) thumb in the dike…: Lawmakers likely will have $102 million more revenue to balance the budget than previously thought, thanks in part to House Bill 6473 (PDF), which authorizes the state to raise $195 million from the sale of tobacco settlement bonds….The move essentially fills a hole created last…
…and I guess we’re supposed be happy about it? (Via ProJo’s Political Scene): On July 1, the worker’s share of the premium cost will rise. For union workers, this was spelled out in the contract; for nonunion workers, a notice went out to each agency’s human resources department three weeks ago, and the agencies are…
Ian Donnis has a story in this week’s Phoenix on former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey and what he’s up to. Laffey, a member of the local steering committee for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, has been turning up at GOP events in recent months, including a May 24 joint fundraiser of the South Kingstown and Narragansett…